Solomon: A winning attitude emerges for Texans

Published 6:30 am, Monday, November 2, 2009

Ryan Moats had a career-high three touchdowns to help the Texans improve to a franchise-best 5-3 at midseason.

Ryan Moats had a career-high three touchdowns to help the Texans improve to a franchise-best 5-3 at midseason.

Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Chronicle

Solomon: A winning attitude emerges for Texans

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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Over the years the Texans have herded excuses like buffalo, rounding them up to explain disaster, collapse, defeat.

So they roll into Buffalo to face the Bills, and the excuses were circling Ralph Wilson Stadium, almost begging to be corralled.

From perhaps their most important weapon going down to a season-ending injury, to oddly tipped balls turning into interceptions, to their best running back continuing to cough the ball up as if he has the pigskin flu, it all could have snowballed.

Actually there was little chance of that. There wasn't a snowball's chance in Buffalo of the Texans falling apart Sunday, and not just because it was a downright balmy 49 degrees at kickoff, which is almost unheard for November in these parts.

Panic used to be a theme with the Texans. Not these guys.

They overcame a horrendous first quarter — low-lighted by the loss of tight end Owen Daniels to a serious knee injury — and punished the Bills 31-10 to earn their third consecutive win.

In many ways — in the most important measuring stick of a season — life has never been so good for the Texans. Not this “late” in the season.

Yes, it's silly, but check the standings. The Texans wake up today among the top six teams in the AFC in record and potential playoff seeding.

The Texans are halfway home to their first winning season and trip to the playoffs. Their 5-3 mark is the first time the franchise has reached the midway point with a winning record.

“The team has grown so much since the day I got here,” wide receiver Andre Johnson said in a happy, but not overly joyous Texans locker room. “I've pretty much been through it all here. We've come a long way. We could have easily shut it down because nothing was going right for us in the first half. But no one panicked.”

Team stayed calm

The Texans trailed 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, and 10-6 at the half, with self-inflicted wounds (three turnovers, two special-teams penalties) giving the Bills hope.

Gary Kubiak said there was plenty of reason to chew out players on the sideline in the first half, but the locker room was calm at the break.

“If you would have been in the locker room at halftime, you wouldn't have even thought we played that bad in the first half, because guys still had the confidence,” Johnson said. “We were like, ‘We took their best shot and we are only down four points. We gave them everything they got in the first half.' ”

Kubiak has tried to get his team to remain composed when things are not going well since he took over in 2006. An upgrade in talent has made a difference. The upgrade in attitude is just about as important.

“If you don't show up every week expecting to win any kind of way you can win, if you don't show up expecting to have adversity, and players to get nicked, those things will jolt you,” Kubiak said. “I think we're getting to the point where we see those things happen and we just say, ‘Hey, buckle down. Let's go. That's part of the game.' ”

Outstanding possession

Despite the slow start, this was a methodical victory against a team that isn't good. The Texans toyed with the Bills, holding on to the ball for more than 39 minutes, the second-best time of possession in franchise history. (The record was set last year against the winless Lions, perhaps the worst team in NFL history.)

The Bills, who fired their offensive coordinator just before the season, employed a paint-by-numbers offense, with the numbers being 1-2-3 kick. They went three-and-out on five of 11 possessions and were just 2-of-10 on third downs.

The Texans' defense is getting good, but the Bills' offense is terrible. So there is plenty of work to be done.

The offense is going to have to adjust to life without Daniels, who entered Sunday as the team's leader in receptions and touchdowns. And even with Ryan Moats' career-best performance off the bench, the Texans need to find a way to get tailback Steve Slaton — a league-leading five lost fumbles — to hold on to the ball.

Yep, this season is just now getting good. Those darn Indianapolis Colts (7-0), — whom the Texans play next week in the Circle City — act as if they can't lose a game.

The Texans have a 3-1 record on the road this season, with the loss coming after an impressive, no-panic second-half comeback at Arizona ended a yard shy of tying the game late.

If you don't believe in these Texans, don't worry. Just as the Texans have had no trouble producing excuses for their play, history has given you reason to have misgivings about an apparent change in their personality.

Confidence is there

But the Texans appear to no longer be looking for or accepting reasons to lose. They didn't Sunday.

“At no point did we panic and say, ‘Here we go again,' ” Dunta Robinson said. “Coming into games you hear guys say, ‘Hey fellas, we're supposed to win this game,' and we've never had that mentality around here. It's a totally different mentality, and I like it. No question.”